Different Paths
by xXFickle AngelXx
Summary: My first fanfic. I don't know if it's good. About RukiaIchigoInoue... I really appreciate those who post their reviews... Thanks!
1. First Chapter

**DIFFERENT PATHS**

_My first fanfic! I'm not good at summaries though. About Rukia, Ichigo, and Inoue. Please R&R…_

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Rukia was forbidden to join the others in saving Inoue from Aizen. To stop her from going, she was sent back to Soul Society. She demanded to go, she even pleaded, but she couldn't change her brother's decision. Byakuya didn't tell her the reason, that's why she was so curious about it.

A few weeks have passed, but Rukia haven't received any news about Inoue. She didn't want to wait any longer. She went to the real world and asked for Urahara's help.

"Rukia-san, why are you here all of a sudden? Did you sneak out?"

"Don't mind that. I want to know some information about Ichigo and Inoue. What happened to them? Are you able to communicate with them? Where are they now? Do you know when will they return?"

"That's plenty of questions. You just ask them yourself."

"What? How could I do that??"

"They have already returned. They're inside my shop."

"Really? You should've told me earlier!" Then Rukia hurried inside Urahara's shop.

"I hope you won't be surprised," thought Urahara.

Rukia saw Inoue lying, she looked very injured. Ichigo sat beside her while Ururu was treating her; Renji, Ikkaku, Yumichika, and Matsumoto were also there but they just sat on the other side of the room. All of them looked very exhausted.

"Inoue! What happened to her?!" she asked Ichigo. But he didn't answer. "Why won't you speak? What happened?"

"Rukia," called Renji from the corner, "I'll tell you."

Rukia turned and approached him, "What's happening here? And you Renji, are you okay?" Then she sat in front of him.

"Rukia, don't talk to Ichigo for now."

"But, why?"

"I don't think this is the right time to tell you. The best thing you can do is stay quiet and let them be."

Rukia noticed that Renji was very serious. That's why she didn't ask again. While sitting beside Renji, she looked at Ichigo. She saw his sincere eyes that were gazing at her; she felt his worry for Inoue, his concern, his care… Rukia thought, _"He isn't always like this… It's different this time… What happened?"_

Hours later, everyone fell asleep except for Ururu who's treating Inoue, and Ichigo who's observing every little improvement in her condition.

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That's all for now... I don't know if my story is good enough.. So, please R&R... Thanks for reading...


	2. Second Chapter

When Rukia woke up, the sun is high in the sky, and the room was almost empty. Inoue was the only one left in the room and she was still sleeping. Nothing had changed from her since last night. Rukia wondered where the others had gone. She went out of the room to look for someone. When she came to the dining room, there was Ichigo. He was sitting alone. Then she approached him.

"Hey, Ichigo."

He didn't respond.

"Ichigo."

Again, no response.

Ichigo looked so depressed. He was just staring blankly at the floor. Rukia never saw Ichigo like this before. Seeing him like this made her want to know what really happened. But at this time, no one would tell her.

"Ichigo," she sat near him, "what's happening to you? You look so different. You're not like this."

And again, no answer from him.

"Ichigo! Would you even look at me?!" she shook him.

"I don't wanna talk," he whispered.

"But—I need to know what's happening to you!"

"Stay away from me!!" he pushed Rukia away.

"I—Ichigo…" Rukia never expected that from him. She didn't know what to do. She ran out of there, leaving Ichigo—the now different Ichigo—alone again.

Rukia continued to run… She left Urahara's house though she didn't know where to go. While Rukia was walking on the street, the thought of what happened earlier constantly entered her mind. "Why did Ichigo— He never did anything like that to me. Why did he?" she sighed, "He's different now… He's changed…"

Rukia decided to go to Ichigo's school to pass her time. It was summer break so no one was there. When she went to the rooftop, someone called her.

"Rukia!"

She turned around to look, "Renji! What are you doing here?"

"Don't you think I should be the one to ask you that? You have no reason to be here. You should be in Urahara's shop with the others, right?"

"I—I—"

"Oh, you don't have to explain. Rangiku-san told me you left. She saw you. That's why I looked for you…" he paused, "Let's go back there. It's safer if we're all together.

Rukia hesitated about returning, "O—Okay…" but somehow she felt that she really wanted to go back there, even if Ichigo wouldn't want to see her.

While walking back to Urahara's shop, Rukia tried to ask Renji, "Um, Renji, you said me that you'll tell me about Ichi—"

"This isn't the time," halted Renji.

Rukia looked down, disappointed, _"Even Renji wouldn't tell me," _she thought.

When they arrived at Urahara's, there was Ikkaku, Yumichika, Rangiku, Urahara, and…Ichigo. It was like their normal day. Only Ichigo had changed, and Rukia doesn't even know why. Everyone was back to their normal cheerful mood and they were happily eating their food. But Rukia noticed Ichigo, he didn't even touch his food and he was so quiet.

"Ichi—," Rukia tried to talk to him, but she was scared, so she just tried to ignore him.

Later that afternoon, Yoruichi came at Urahara's. She came to speak with Rukia.

"Yoruichi-san? You want to speak with me?" questioned Rukia.

"Yes."

"But, why? Do you need something?"

"No. I just thought you might want to know what happened to Ichigo."

Rukia suddenly became interested, "Y—You know what happened?"

"Yes, of course, I was with them that time."

"Y—You're really going to me?" she paused, "Because no one would…even Renji."

"I knew that, and that's exactly the reason why I'm here. And I also knew that's Ichigo would change." Then Yoruichi started to tell her, "When we were planning to save Inoue, we all agreed to avoid fighting because we know we can't defeat them at this rate. We said that our main goal is to save Inoue and return here safely, and nothing else. But at the time we arrived there, Inoue confronted us. She challenged Ichigo to fight her."

Rukia was surprised, she never imagined that Inoue would even try anything like that.

Yoruichi continued, "Even Ichigo was stunned to hear that. So he asked her, 'I—Inoue, w—why? We're here to save you. I am never gonna fight you.'"

"_Naturally, Ichigo would say that," _thought Rukia.

"Inoue just smirked," said Yoruichi, "She never did that to us. It was like we were seeing a different Inoue. Ichigo kept asking her the reason why she was like that. And Inoue finally gave him the answer, 'You know why? It was because of Rukia!!'"

"What?!" interjected Rukia, "Why would she say that?! Me? It's because of me? B—But why?"

"I'll tell you what she exactly said, 'It's because of Rukia! I—I'm jealous of her!—'"

"Jealous?! What?!" exclaimed Rukia.

"Oh, would you please listen first to what I am saying. I couldn't finish." Yoruichi paused, "Inoue said to Ichigo, 'I always admired you! But you never noticed! It is always Rukia, Rukia, and Rukia! I'm sick of it!!"

Rukia couldn't say anything. She was bewildered. She had no idea that Inoue have feelings for Ichigo, and the most surprising thing for her is that Inoue became jealous of her, and she was the reason why these things happened…only because of her.

**Well, that's all for now… It's great if you enjoyed reading it. Sorry for wrong spellings and grammar, I think there are some. Thanks for reading! Please review… I plan to continue if I receive good reviews. So, I hope you liked it! (-)v**


	3. Third Chapter

After hearing every word that Inoue said to Ichigo in Hueco Mundo, speaking to Ichigo was the first thing that entered Rukia's mind.

She approached Ichigo, who was sitting beside Inoue again, "Ichigo! I knew what happened. Why didn't you tell me?"

Ichigo stood up, he looked directly at Rukia's eyes, "If I told you, would there be any difference in her condition?!" he said, as he pointed Inoue.

"Yeah, you're right, there wouldn't be any difference. But at least you can share with me the weight of your sorrow!"

When Ichigo was going to answer Rukia…

"K—Kurosaki-kun," a weak voice called.

Ichigo turned around, "I—Inoue?! You're awake!"

"Inoue?!" Rukia was also surprised.

"Are you two arguing?" asked Inoue.

"N—No, we're just talking," immediately answered Ichigo.

"Oh… Um, Kurosaki-kun, why am I here?"

"Don't you remember? We were in Hueco Mundo…"

"Hueco Mundo…?" Inoue tried to recall what happened, "Oh! That! I remember now!" she paused, and then her face reddened.

"You shouldn't be shy about that," Ichigo smiled, "You told me the truth, right?"

Rukia saw Ichigo smile. This is the first time he smiled since they returned from Hueco Mundo. Ichigo's face brightened when Inoue woke up. Rukia thought, _"So Inoue was the only one who can bring the old Ichigo back."_

Ichigo and Inoue continued to talk, they looked so cheerful, and they were laughing together… They're very happy. When Rukia saw them like that, she felt some kind of pain that she couldn't describe. The longer she watched them like that, the more pain she felt. This was the first time she felt this feeling. Then she suddenly felt that she couldn't stand to see them, so she left that room.

Rukia wanted to go somewhere else but there was nowhere to go. So she just stayed outside Urahara's shop.

An hour later, everyone knew that Inoue was already awake. They all went to her, except for Rukia.

Rukia said to herself, "I know it's good that Ichigo returned to his normal self…but, I'm still sad…seeing them like that… I never knew they were so close to each other— Wait! Am I being jealous of Inoue?" she shook her head, "No! That can't be!"

Renji approached her, "Why are you alone here? Everybody's celebrating because of Inoue already woke up. Let's go inside."

"No, I'm fine. Everyone missed Inoue, it's just normal. Why don't you join them? I just need to be alone."

"Rukia—"

"Please Renji… It's better if you go there."

"Okay, just call me if you need company."

Rukia was very silent when Renji left her, she doesn't have anything to do. And she thought that Ichigo was mad at her.

After a few minutes, Inoue suddenly showed up behind her. "Hey, I noticed that you weren't inside so I looked for you. Why don't you join us? Is there a problem?"

"N—No, I just don't feel being with everyone right now."

"Is that really the reason? You know I feel like you're avoiding me. What's happening Kuchiki-san? We're friends, right? So I think I should know the reason why."

"Inoue…"

"You can't deny it… It's already obvious. Please tell me."

"It's nothing you shouldn't think about it too much. And besides, it's none of your business!" Rukia said as she ran away from Inoue.

"Wait, Kuchiki-san!"

Rukia didn't want to treat Inoue like that, but she doesn't want Inoue to know what's happening to her.


	4. Fourth Chapter

Inoue had been wondering why was Rukia like that. She went inside and talked to Ichigo.

"Kurosaki-kun, may I ask you something?"

"What is it, Inoue?"

"It's about Kuchiki-san…"

"Rukia…?"

"Yes. She's been acting differently lately. And I think she's avoiding me. Do you know why she's like that?"

Ichigo thought for a moment, "I'm not really sure, but I'll try to talk to her."

"Okay."

The following day when Ichigo woke up, he went outside and saw Rukia sitting on a bench. He approached her.

"Rukia…"

"Ichigo…? D—Do you need something?"

"Inoue talked to me yesterday. She asked me if I know why you were avoiding her," he asked in a serious tone.

She looked downwards, "Oh… I'm sorry for acting like that, but honestly, I don't feel like being with her right now."

"And why is that?"

Rukia shook her head and thought, _"Maybe he wasn't mad at me after all _(Because until now, she thought that Ichigo was angry at her)… _But I think I should ask him…just to be sure…" _"Ichigo," she started, "Could I ask you something? That is, before I answer you question."

"What is it?" he looked at her curiously.

"Um…aren't you angry at me?"

"Angry? No, I'm not," then he remembered how he treated Rukia on those days, "No! I'm not angry at you, and sorry for treating you harshly. I was just…. Just…"

"Just what?"

"…just…worried about Inoue."

"I knew it," she whispered to herself.

"What did you say?"

She immediately shook her head, "No, no, nothing."

Ichigo continued, "And I felt responsible…"

"Because…?"

"Didn't anyone tell you? She challenged me to fight her, but I won't… Then Gin suddenly showed up, and instantly attacked her. We didn't notice, but she then instantly fell on the ground, severely wounded."

"But, why did you felt responsible?"

"She confessed her love for me before Gin appeared, and she also said that she was jealous of you… And I wasn't able to protect her."

"Yeah, someone already told me that," she said in a low tone. "But when Inoue gained her consciousness, it seemed that everything was fine between the both of you. And…by the way, what was your answer to her?"

"I told her that—" Ichigo was stopped when Renji showed up.

"Hey, we've got a problem. Some hollows appeared at the park. We need to go there now."

"Okay." Ichigo promptly stood up and changed into his Shinigami form. Then Rukia and Renji followed him.

Inoue, Ichigo, Rukia, and Renji were the ones who went to fight the hollows. There were four hollows there—just enough for each one of them. The hollows didn't look very strong. It seemed that they'll only have a simple fight. After looking carefully at the hollows, they assigned themselves to each one of them.

"Okay! Let's go!!" declared Renji.

It didn't took long before Ichigo and Renji defeated the hollows. But Inoue was still there, struggling to defeat the hollow in front of her. Things happened very fast, they just saw Inoue being thrown to the ground by the hollow.

"Inoue!!" they shouted.

Ichigo was the first one to be at her side. "Inoue! Are you hurt?" he said as he assisted her to stand.

"Yes," she replied with a slight nod.

"I think I've got to finish this one for you."

"Okay," she said.

Renji and Rukia were just watching, they didn't want to interfere. And besides, Ichigo can handle it.

Then, Ichigo held tight his Zanpakutou and easily slashed the hollow into two. And it disappeared into thin air. It was nothing for him.

"Thank you, Kurosaki-kun," said Inoue, steeping closer to Ichigo.

After the very easy, and almost nonsense fight, they started to walk home. It was Ichigo and Inoue who were walking together. They were somehow ahead. Leaving Rukia and Renji walking behind. Of course she's with Renji, who else could Rukia be walking with?

Rukia asked Renji, "Do you think Inoue really likes Ichigo?"

"Eh? Why do you ask? But actually, I think she _really _does. You could see it from her actions. She doesn't also like him…she _loves_ him."

"And you think Ichigo also likes her?"

"What are you…? Well, anyway, yeah… Sometimes it comes to my head that he also likes her. But I'm not sure," then Renji asked her, "Why do you ask such things?"

"Nothing, I was just curious." She thought, _"I need to talk to Ichigo. Our conversation earlier was interrupted. I want to know what was his answer to Inoue. So I would also be able to tell him my feelings… Now that I'm sure that I love him…"_

**That's all for now. But I already got an idea what I'll do next time. I'll be more interesting! So, see ya! Thanks for reading!**


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